Waning Gibbous
by MC-GAR-IL
Summary: This is a time to break bad habits, to end bad relationships. This is a time of deep intuition and a time for divination. This was her chance for a second attempt at happiness, but with her past making a sudden reappearance in her life Reagan has to try to save her new life with Amy while keeping her safe from the horrors of her past with her pack.
1. When the Sun Sets

**1\. Reagan**

"_Reagan stop!"_

_It sounded so far away. Miles and miles away. Low and muted, but I still heard the words. Still saw the terror, the disbelief in his wide dark eyes, eyes that were so much like mine. Those eyes that usually resembled a crisp fall leaf were now muddied and filled with fear. Because of me, because of the wolf._

_Because I wouldn't stop_

_Couldn't stop_

_I had to continue to attack and attack and __**attack**_

_I had to end him right here_

_I could feel the heat of the fire singe my fur; smell the thick and heady scent of ash in the air, but it was mixed with something else. Something sharp and reminiscent of wet pennies. Then suddenly the man in front of me faded away, the only thing remaining was his pleas of mercy._

_The fire continued to crackle and the house continued to crash and burn around me. Trapping me. Closing me in._

_Escape_

_That's all that ran through my mind, but I was stuck, the hulking mass that was my wolf too large to get out of the crumbling house without bringing it down faster._

_I shift back into my human form, and crack and pop of my bones leaving a dull ache within my body but giving me more space to move._

_More space to breath_

_It was easier to keep the smoke from entering my lungs but the flames felt twice as hot so I begin to maneuver through the house. Running down a flight of stairs that had already crumbled on one side._

_I was almost there; the door was in sight on the other side of the room. I made a break for it forcing my weak legs to carry me forward. Closer and closer until a resounding crack is heard and a beam of wood falls in front of my exit, splintered and burning but still in my way. Then the smell of wet pennies returned, stronger and heavier. It was coming from right in front of me._

_Despite the need to escape I continued forward. Closer and closer until my bare foot stepped in a liquid, warm and thick, and the tinny scent was right on top of me._

_Stomach churning I glanced at the beam, but my eyes travelled to what was under it. The prone form of a grey wolf was trapped beneath the ablaze timber. Grey fur that was dark and matted around a noticeable gash on its side. Soft whimpers just barely audible over the whooshing and swirling of the flames._

_Bile climbed up the back of my throat and my heart felt a pang of guilt and strangely of fear._

_The wolf shifted and suddenly there was a woman with dark brown hair and not a stitch of clothing. What was once dark and matted fur was now flesh and I could clearly see the gash she had stretching down her side. The bile climbed higher but I pushed it down._

_The anger, the need to kill that was fueling me was suddenly gone. All that was left was the sting of regret. I need to help her; I need to fix what I've caused._

_As if she read my mind her head slowly began to lift. Despite half of her face being already burnt and her body being caked in blood and fresh wounds she looked me in the eye._

_And she smiled._

_"Go Reagan, run get out of here"_

_I froze in confusion._

_Why is she smiling? Why would she tell me to run?_

_I did this to her, I'm the reason she's bleeding to death._

_So much blood_

_Blood on the ground, the smell of blood in the air, blood on my hands…_

_I couldn't breathe. Maybe my blood made its way to my lungs to suffocate me for what I've done. I fall to my knees hand grasping at my chest trying to inhale enough air. I hear the woman weakly call out my name and raise my head just enough to catch her eyes. Straining my ears I barely hear her fading words_

_"Ní mar a shíltear a bhítear."_

_A warmth enveloped me, different from the raging heat of the fire. This warmth was gently taking me in, as if someone was wrapping their arms around me in a hug._

_The woman in front of me was being washed away by a bright light that continued to get stronger until the ablaze house was completely shut out from my vision._

_I cry out in protest and reach my hand out to someone who's already gone. I feel tears start to fall down my cheeks and bow my head choking back sobs._

Her eyes shoot open and as she rolls off the bed onto her hands and knees. Her sweat soaked body shook as she greedily drank in the clean air of her apartment. She continued to breathe sporadically until her head felt a little dizzy and then took in deep breath and letting it out slowly allowing her trembling body to calm until she was completely still.

Feeling the fuzziness of the carpet beneath her reality seeped back into her bones. The threat of the nightmare fades to a ghost that has been following her for so long that it has become easier to ignore.

Once she calmed down she flopped on her back trying recall the already fading nightmare. The details were always a little different but the underlying fact remained the same.

She killed them; she lost control and killed her parents…

Swallowing past the lump in her throat and blinking back tears she focused. There was something her mom said that she never heard before. _Ní mar a shíltear a bhítear._

"Things aren't as they seem," Regan mutters letting the gears turn in her head. That was new; out of all the nightmares she's had of that night it's never ended like that. She tries to think, she remembers the words that were said all those years ago with crystal clarity, but that phrase…

Something stirs inside of her, something too deep for Reagan to reach. It makes her stomach swirl and the front of her head spike with pain. The wolf growls, ears flat against its head, tail twitching, wanting to come out and destroy _something_ so she pushes the thoughts away and waits for the wolf to calm down.

After a moment Deciding that she can't just lay there forever she finally sits up and reaches for her cellphone that's resting on her bedside table. _5:24am _is lit up on her screen and Reagan groans. She has to be up in an hour so there's no point in going back to sleep (not that she could but one could hope).

Standing up she begins to stretch and shake off any lingering sluggishness. She figures she might as well get a head start and scrounge up some food and shower before she has to go pick up Amy.

If Reagan was honest with herself she's been, well, a little preoccupied. She wasn't avoiding her girlfriend per say but she also wasn't putting as much effort into seeing her. She feels bad about it, but she can't exactly explain to Amy that's she keeps having nightmares about killing her parents. Shoe also couldn't just pretend that there wasn't anything wrong because the moment Amy looked at her, hell the moment she tried to speak to her, she'd know something was up. So she's avoiding her, or she was until Amy basically begged her to drive her to school. So here she was in her girlfriends' driveway as Amy tries to persuade her to a date night.

"Oh come on Rae, I feel like we haven't hung out, just the two of us in forever." Reagan told herself not to look in the younger girls' direction, she knew as soon as she looked in her eyes she would cave like a house of cards.

"I know Shrimps; it's just been a busy past couple of days."

Amy stopped walking pulling Reagan back by their entwined hands. Reagan tried to keep looking the other way she really did but the blonde was having none of it. She cupped the other girls' face and made eye contact with her.

As soon as Reagan saw the pout on her girlfriends face she knew she was a goner.

"Aw come on, I know you have a waiting gig this afternoon but tonight you're off, so let's go out. Maybe we can go to that sushi place that you like." Amy punctuated her statement with a quick kiss to Reagan's lips.

"Please" A kiss on the cheek,

"Please" One on the nose,

"Pleeease" A trail of kisses along her jaw line, Reagan placed her free hand on Amy's waist and squeezed. She began to take slow deep breathes trying to calm her erratic heart. When Amy nipped at her collarbone she had to close her eyes and stifle a moan as her wolf begged to be set free.

A breathless 'Amy' escaped her lips as she resisted rocking her hips forward. She felt a smirk against her neck as a lingering kiss was planted there. Another quiet 'please' was whispered against the shell of her ear and she had to squeeze her thighs together embarrassed from the dampness in her underwear.

When Amy finally leaned back with mischief in her eyes and a smirk on her lips Reagan couldn't help but wonder what happened to the shy and nervous girl she first started dating.

"You don't play fair"

"Well I haven't heard a no yet so…"

"Okay, okay, we'll go out tonight" Amy gave her another peck on the lips before releasing her hand and getting into the passenger side of Reagan's truck.

_'This is going to be a long night'_

Everything was going well so far she picked Amy up from her house, they ate and then headed to an arcade where Reagan proceed to school Amy in skeeball.

"You can't be afraid to get low Shrimps" Regan actually got on her knees in front of the machine, "Kids do better at skeeball since they're so short. Then you have to be patient and familiarize yourself with the machine and find its sweet spot, just like with the ladies." Looking over her shoulder she gave Amy a wink causing a mild blush to appear on the blondes cheeks.

"You should be taking notes right now, these tips are gold."

Amy snorted. "What I need to be taking is pictures of my 'badass' girlfriend who's acting like a ten year old"

"Joke all you want Shrimps-" Reagan looked back at the skeeball machine shifting slightly to the left and then rolled the ball.

They both watched as the ball swiftly rolls up the ramp, banks off the side, and easily slides into the 100 point hole.

"But my technique works"

Even though Amy rolled her eyes at her eyes at her girlfriend and her childish behavior she couldn't stop smiling.

After throwing the other 8 balls Reagan ended up scoring a 700 and receiving about 2 and a half feet worth of tickets throwing Amy a self satisfied smirk.

"Come on high roller; let me show you where my favorite game is."

Walking deeper into the arcade they came to a halt in front of a red and yellow pinball like machine that read 'Speed Demon'.

Putting in her token Amy began to explain how the game worked. "So the first part is purely luck, you have to land the ball in the center of machine in one of the red holes, you have about a 30 percent chance of it going in…" Amy trailed off as she concentrated on the rotating ball watching as it slowed down and plopped into one of the red holes.

Switching their gaze to the backboard part a light began to rotate around a bunch of numbers.

"This next part is purely skill; you have to stop the light on one of the red arrows to advance to one of the inner circles. There's three in total but you want to only get to the second one, the third is basically impossible to win and you end up with only 20 tickets."

Amy hit the lit up 'stop' button and the machine let out a childlike 'you did it' before advancing to one of the smaller circles.

"When you're in the second circle it's easy to aim for the hundred and-" Amy quickly hits the 'stop' button again and the 100 was lit up. "Bam instant 100 tickets at least a third of the time. It's all math really."

As they waited for the tickets to finish dispensing Regan wrapped her arms around Amy's wait from behind and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I didn't know you were a math nerd Shrimps." Amy shrugs, "What can I say, statistics are my forte"

"Remind me to take you to Vegas one day, we'll make out like thieves." Amy just chuckled turning her head to give Reagan slow kiss.

"As long as I get to be Clyde" Reagan wrinkles her nose, "I don't think I want to get shot multiple times by the cops Shrimps."

Amy frowns.

"We'll leave that part out obviously, but how about the traveling all over just you and me, minus the robbing and killing of course, what do you think of that."

Reagan leaned her head on Amy's shoulder. "I think it sounds great, when pray tell were you planning on doing this?"

"During summer vacation, I figured you've probably saved up some vacation time, and maybe we could spend a week or two just driving, after all the drama we've gone through these past months I think we earned a vacation."

Reagan just buried her face into the crook of Amy's neck, letting her scent wash her away to late night dinner trips in new states, driving along route 66 radio blasting a mix that Reagan would have prepared especially for the occasion, nights spent looking up at the stars from the bed of her truck, visiting different tourist attractions, taking pictures and videos of all their adventures, and best of all uninterrupted time with Amy for a whole 14 days.

Reagan took another deep breathe to ground herself.

This felt like a big step, taking vacations _alone together_ felt like they were officially saying, _this is it, we're in this for the long haul_.

She should feel intimidated; no she should feel scared out of her mind. The last time she took a trip alone with someone was with…

But Amy wasn't her, wouldn't ever be her, and fuck she's falling so hard for this girl

"Yeah, let's do it"

Amy turns around in her grasp and takes Reagan's chin in her hands making sure that they're looking each other in the eye, and for a moment they just stare.

The intensity in Amy's eyes makes Reagan shiver slightly.

But then the moment dissipates and Amy's smiling, eyes bright with happiness, and Reagan thinks _maybe I've already hit the ground_.

Gathering up the tickets Amy ushers them to the prize counter.

Reagan had used the tickets she won from the skeeball machine to get a tasmanian devil plush toy which she immediately presented to Amy and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek and an affectionate 'dork' from her girlfriend.

Amy on the other hand get this bobble head duck that has DJ head phones on and a shirt that says 'chick magnet' and Reagan can only stop laughing long enough to kiss her pouting girlfriend and tell her she'll keep it on her dashboard forever.

They finally got back to Reagan's truck both and began their drive back to Amy's house.

Luckily the Amy from that afternoon hadn't resurfaced and instead was replaced with the Amy that gave her shy cute kisses and would 'discretely' steal food off of Reagan's plate just to turn around and start feeding her and would occasionally nuzzle closer to Reagan grabbing her hand under the table.

Except Reagan could tell that there was something else within those kisses, something in the way Amy would look a Reagan just a bit too long, and her smile would turn a bit too devious.

There was something sly and devious underneath the innocent façade Amy was projecting, like she knew something that Reagan didn't and that kept her slightly on edge all night.

As they drove to Amy's house they fell into a comfortable silence as Reagan kept her focus on the road while trying not to think about the fact that Amy's hand was resting on her knee. It was an innocent touch really but it still made her skin prickle and her hands tense on the steering wheel.

Instead of focusing on that warm pressure that she swore was slowly inching up her thigh the closer they got to the blonde's house she focused on breathing and not accidentally veering the both of them off the road.

After what felt like a decade (_an eternity, a __**millennium**_) they were pulling into the driveway Reagan had just put the truck in park when Amy unbuckled her belt and began trailing a path of hot (_burning, __**blazing**_) kisses along her neck.

Reagan felt light headed and a little faint (was it just her or was there less air inside the car?) she's also pretty sure she just let out a whine and, oh god, Amy was nibbling on her ear lobe.

She should stop this, she really should, but it felt so good and she could practically feel her wolf growling in anticipation.

She should stop this

They were taking things slow

But a little kissing couldn't hurt right?

Wrong

She was so very wrong

Apparently a little kissing can turn into a lot of kissing, and roaming hands, and lost shirts, and in Reagan's case a dull ache in her pants.

After smoothly sliding across the seat Amy ended up straddling Reagan whose hands were under the blondes' shirt and inching toward second base.

A growl was ripped from Reagan's throat as Amy leaned back gently dragging Reagan's bottom lip with her before releasing it and smirking at her panting girlfriend.

"No one's home right now-" and that's all Reagan had to hear. She quickly threw her jacket on (she couldn't even give you a hint to where her shirt was at the moment) and didn't even bother with her now loose hair.

After one more heated kiss Reagan slipped Amy off her lap and threw the door to truck open grabbing a now giggling Amy's hand and tugging her along up the driveway.

As Amy fumbles with the keys Reagan peppers kisses behind her earlobe, every now and again swiping her tongue against that spot that makes Amy's heart stutter and breathing pause.

Finally finding the right key Amy twists the lock and turns the doorknob dragging Regan into the house mouths fused to together again and-

Fuck

Reagan quickly pulls away from Amy.

No way

"Reagan?"

Her wolf growls and the color drains from her face.

"Rea?"

The heavy woodsy scent infused with honey is literally all over Amy's house.

Reagan slides down against the wall lowly muttering 'no' over and over again.

This is not happening **she** cannot be here.

Reagan feels like she's suffocating, the walls are closing in on her, air is not making its way to her lungs, and her bones are literally aching for her to shift and run away, run far, far away.

She almost jumps out of her skin when she feels something touch her arm.

Her eyes focused on the worried face of her girlfriend and fuck she forgot about Amy, she needs to get her out of here right now.

Suddenly jumping to her feet Reagan grabs Amy's hand and begins tugging her towards the door.

"Reagan, wait, stop, what's going on?"

"Amy we don't have time for questions we have to go!"

Still unconvinced Amy resists her frantic girlfriend's urgings and Reagan considers throwing Amy over her shoulder when she hears it-

Hears _**her**_-

"Aww Rae-bear, where's the fire?"

Reagan's spine immediately stiffens and she stands in front of Amy who is now squeezing her hand just a little too tightly.

"Don't you have time to come and have a chat with an old friend?"

And then she sees _**her**_

Slowly descending the stairs

A sway in her hips

A dangerous smirk on her dark red lips

Stormy blue eyes staring right at her, right _through_ her

Reagan growls, actually growls and feels her canines grow and muscles tense as she prepares to turn and then-

She stops remembering Amy and realizing that if she changed now she'd be in even more danger, so she takes a breathe, muscles relaxing, teeth returning to normal size.

"What's the matter Rae-Rae, why aren't you jumping at me, afraid for your _girlfriend_?" she practically spits the word.

"Lila…" Reagan warns as she takes another step toward them, pausing and then rolling her eyes at Reagan's warning.

"Honestly, you need to chill out" Lila says as she leans against the wall as if they were just casually talking, as if this was _normal_.

"If I was going to do something, I would have done so already."

Amy squeezes Reagan's arm, "Regan… what's going on?" the dark haired girl can hear the fear in her Amy's voice.

"What's going on is- "Lila starts before Reagan can even think of how she can explain the situation that unfolding before them. "You two are going to sit down on that couch over there and I'm going to deliver the message I was sent here for."

Reagan considers running, bolting as fast as she can, but she knows it won't' work since Amy would slow her down, she knows Lila has the upper hand, so she slowly, carefully, takes Amy over to the couch keeping her close just in case.

Lila just looks at them, studying them, and after a moment smiles.

"Great let's get down to business."

Reagan's whole body was tensed and on edge.

They've been sitting in silence for the past five minutes and she was ready to just pounce on Lila and wish for the best (not that it would be much of a challenge) but the hand that was currently clasped in her right hand was keeping her grounded.

She could feel Amy's fear and confusion rolling off of her in waves and it made Reagan's stomach churn in guilt.

The silence stretched on and Reagan's jaw began to hurt from how hard she had it clenched. Words of impatience were on the tip of her tongue when Lila smirked and began to talk.

"Elliot wants you back"

Her blood ran cold

This was worse than she thought

Lila was one thing, but if Elliot was here the rest of the pack was too.

Fuck

She's screwed

_Reagan took a deep breath in and focused her hearing._

_She heard the chirping of the birds in the trees._

_The sound of shifting dirt as squirrels dug up acorns that they had hidden away in fall._

_The Gentle flow of water from the river she was standing in front of._

_She could hear it all, could feel it with every inhale and exhale._

_She wanted to imprint this moment in her mind forever._

_The sound of giggling and splashing water made her open her eyes. She saw her brother lift Lila up and dunk her into the water as she tried to protest through laughter. A smile spread on Reagan's face as she jumped into the water swimming up to them. Lila's blue eyes caught hers and she began to call out to her for help._

"_Hey Elliot, unhand my girlfriend!"_

_He smirked at her, eyes bright and mischievous._

"_Hmm, I don't think so" Reagan could feel her own smile grow as she and her brother continued to stare each other down._

"_Look we could do this the easy way or the hard way it doesn't really matter to me." He lifted his eyebrow at her, "Oh is that a challenge baby sister?" He set Lila down and his smirk grew._

"_Maybe" Reagan shrugged her shoulders_

"_Well maybe I'm feeling a little lucky" Elliot replied before leaping forward and dunking Regan's head underwater. Regan kicked her legs causing Elliot to trip and fall back into the water. Popping her head up she began to swim toward the shore where Lila was waiting but then her leg was suddenly pulled backwards and she was being lifted up._

"_Told ya I was feeling lucky" Regan began to laugh and wiggle around in her brothers' grip._

"_I'll save you Rea" Lila yelled as she dived back into the water swimming up to them, "Release her you fiend"_

_Elliot deepened his voice and let a his best evil laugh, "Never, with this one out of the way I can become king of the river and no one can stop me, mwhaha"_

"_Oh really" Lila drawled, "Then if I do…" she sneaks her finger to the underside of his left bicep, "__**This**__, then it'll have no effect?" she began to tickle the spot causing Eliot burst out laughing, he let go of Reagan in order to swat Lila's hands away._

_Once free Reagan swam away with Lila not far behind. When they made it back to shore Reagan wrapped her arms around Lila's waist, "My hero" she said staring into the shorter girls' electric blue eyes. T hey both started to lean in but before they can close the gap they are hit with a big splash of water._

"_Hey, big brother here, I don't want to see any of that mushy stuff." Elliot lifted himself out of the water and shook his head throwing droplets of water onto the two girls. "Now come on let's go get some food, it's lunch time and I can smell dad's cooking from here." Lila perked up and immediately rushed over to her clothes letting out a whoop and hastily putting on her shirt, as she began to pull on her shorts she said, "Hurry up slowpokes I'm starving"_

"_You're always starving, I'm pretty sure you could spend your whole day eating and never get full you bottomless pit." Elliot commented turning shrugging his shirt on._

"_Damn straight I would, your dad knows how to cook a meal." Reagan just rolled her eyes at her girlfriend but started to laugh, "What are you laughing at? And hurry up and put on your clothes… Hmm never thought I'd say put your clothes on I mean-"_

"_Again, brother, right here, I don't want or need to hear however that sentence was going to end." Lila just stuck her tongue out at Elliot as she slipped on her flip-flops._

_Reagan just shook her head and smiled at her brother and girlfriend as they continued to bicker back and forth. She swears they're actually five year olds sometimes, but she wouldn't want them any other way._

Regan stares into Lila's unwavering gaze straightens her back and lifts her chin, "No"

Lila furrows her brow and basically scowls at Reagan, "No?" she says, her controlled voice breaking and giving way to anger and hurt, "You don't get to say no Reagan, you left us, you just up and disappeared without a word. We thought you were kidnapped, or, or **killed**. But then we find you here alive and unharmed and you think you can just say no and I'll- we'll go away, well fuck you I'm not going anywhere until you agree to come back with me."

They both stares at each other, neither one willing to back down, "Reagan…" they both break their heated gaze and look at Amy who's been so quiet Reagan almost forgot she was there. But there she is staring at Reagan with confused and scared eyes.

"I know Amy, I swear everything is gonna be fine, I'll explain later I-"

"Oh so you haven't told her?" The dangerous smile reappears on Lila's lips as she turns her gaze onto Amy. Reagan tenses and jumps up,

"Don't you dare"

"Aww is Rea-bear afraid the truth is going to drive her new plaything away? You can't hide it from her forever"

"Lila…"

"Careful, you don't want to shift"

"Reagan what is she talking about?" Amy asked

"Well Reagan here is a-"

"**Stop**, I'll come with you, just stop talking"

A smug smile crosses Lila's face, "Good, then let's go"

"Wait" Reagan says, "How do I know you won't send someone back here to hurt Amy."

Lila rolls her eyes, "Please she's not that important, and I'm the only one who knows where you are right now."

Reagan pulls out her phone, "Well just in case…" She opens up a new text message and types _'come over to amy's asap its wolf related' _and hits send.

"Who did you text?" Amy whispers

"Theo and Lauren." Reagan's phone vibrates

'_be there in 5'_

Putting her phone back in her pocket Reagan turns toward Amy, "I'm sorry forgetting you mixed up this. I know you have a lot of questions and I swear I'll answer them all. But for now I want you to stay really close to Theo."

"Reagan what-"

"No time for questions right now Shrimps," Reagan cracks an uneasy smile and kisses the top of Amy's head, "I'll be back soon"

"Ugh are you two done" Lila grumbles, Reagan hears a car pull up out in front so she decides to hold her tongue and just nods. Grabbing Amy's hand they walk to the front door and pull it open and see a tall dark skinned boy right at the entrance.

"Theo slow down what's the problem?" Walking up behind him is a short girl with blonde hair and furrowed brows.

Instead of answering Theo walks in past Reagan and Amy and straight to Lila. He gives her a calculating once over and crosses his arms. "I didn't sense anyone else in the area." he says over his shoulder. Reagan nods and looks at Lila, "Come on, let's get his over with" Lila walks past Theo with a barely controlled snarl and struts out the door. Reagan just kisses Amy and whispers an "I'll be back I promise" against her lips, then throws Theo a look which he responds to with a nod and then follows Lila out the door her stomach in knotting with every step.

Reagan just wishes she was sure she could make good on that promise.

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**MC:** Hey guys, so it is May 11, 2015 and if you've read this before you know that I've changed up the first chapter, if this is your first time reading it then thanks for joining us. So I originally posted this on February 4th but I didn't really like it, so now I know what I want to do with this story (it was kind of just an awkward one-shot thing before) but I've revamped the first chapter and know what's happening in the next ones. So I hope you guys will enjoy this story.


	2. When Your Past Comes Knocking

**MC:** Hey guys here s chapter 2 and if you were reading this story before you might want to reread chapter 1 because I made a bunch of changes. But onto the story.

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2\. AMY

Amy thinks she might pass out. She stands in the doorway for a long time and watches as Reagan and that girl, Lila, get into Reagan's truck. She watches as they pull out of the driveway, and she continues to watch even when the trucks is out of sight. She stands and she stares and stares and stares.

She can hear her sister interrogating Theo behind her but Amy is still staring out the door.

It all still feels surreal.

She finally jerks her head away from the deserted driveway when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks into her sisters eyes and waits for her to say something.

"Amy what the hell, what's going on, are you okay?" Amy can feel the snarky comment on the tip of her tongue, _"Yeah everything is just peachy, I mean some girl broke into my house because of my girlfriend who is apparently hiding something, and now said girlfriend has left with the mysterious girl telling me she'll explain later. Just another normal day in the life of Amy Raudenfeld"_

"Come on Lauren don't crowd her" Theo walks over and pulls Lauren back a little and gives Amy a sympathetic smile.

Amy finally gathers up the nerve to close the front door and walk back into her house laying face first onto the couch.

"Amy…" she hears Theo call her but she only grunts in response, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Amy sits up and just stares at him for a moment, "I don't even know what just happened, so how am I supposed to talk about it."

Theo looks like he wants to say something but Lauren pulls on his sleeve to get his attention. She gestures for him to bend down and he complies. Amy watches as she whispers something in his ear, he stand back up and nods in an affirmative, she then gestures toward the door with her head and Theo nods again, and then she quickly looks at Amy and then back to Theo who shakes his head in the negative.

Amy intently watches them furrowing her brow when she realizes that they're talking about her. Her hand tightens around the fabric of the couch as she decides to speak, "What is it?" Lauren and Theo both look at each other and then back to Amy, "Look you must know something if Reagan texted you, what is it?"

Theo rubs the back of his neck and sighs, "I think you should wait for Reagan to tell you"

Amy bites the inside of her cheek and turns her head to the side pushing back the rush of emotions that were sweeping through her. "Theo please," she feels the annoyance and anger inside of her slip and the fear that was lurking below bubble up and she cracked.

Her body began to shake as tears began to stream down her face. Her breathing became erratic as she tried to suppress the sobs that wanted to escape past her lips. She was confused and scared and no one was giving her answers. She crumpled onto the ground, knees drawn up to her chest and head resting on top of them. She feels an arm drape across her shoulders and her already balled up fists tighten.

"I swear I'm going to kick Reagan's ass" Amy hears Lauren begin to stomp back and forth

"She didn't know this was going to happen Lauren." Theo's voice sounded much closer, Amy assumes correctly that he must be the one who has their arm behind her.

Lauren scoffs, "That's not the point Theo, she didn't tell her…" Lauren trails off and Amy hears her angry pacing stop. Another flare of anger makes its way into Amy's body.

Jerking her head up she gives Lauren her best glare, Lauren just crosses her arms and looks back at her calmly which makes Amy even angrier.

"Why won't you guys just tell me what's going on? I think I deserve some answers." She and Lauren continue to stare at each other neither of them willing to back down.

Amy notices Theo pull out his phone and type something.

"Don't act like I don't want to tell you Amy, I do, but it's not my secret to share, so you're just going to have to-"

"We can tell her." Theo interrupts, "I just texted Reagan, she said it might be better if she hears it now so it gives Amy time process before she comes back." Amy feels her stomach clench uncomfortably.

Theo tells her to sit on the couch and Amy steels herself for whatever he's about to tell her. Theo coughs into his fist and stares at her looking a little lost. Lauren comes and sits on the arm of the couch next to him never taking her gaze off of Amy.

"So that girl who broke into your house, she's from Reagan's hometown, and she came here because Reagan had a very 'important' position back home, and she, well she ran away but this isn't something you can really run from."

"Oh my god, she's not part of a mafia is she? Am I dating a mob bosses daughter or something?"

"No, that's not it. It's more complicated than that... She's part of a... pack."

"A pack of what?"

"You have to remember to not freak out when I tell you this. A pack of, well, wolves."

Silence

Amy just sits and stares at him. She has the urge to laugh like she usually does in awkward situations but the look on Theo and Lauren's face stops it from coming out. Instead she looks into Theo's eyes and doesn't let her gaze waver.

"Are you serious?" He nods. "And you expect me to believe you?" He nods again.

"He's not lying Amy." Lauren chimes in. Amy turns her head slightly to the left to look at her sister.

Seeing that they both looked serious Amy pinched the bridge of her nose, "Okay let's say I believed you. Why would Reagan tell you two about this and not me?"

Theo rubbed the back of his neck again and gave Amy a sheepish smile "Because I'm one too."

Silence

Amy continued to stare at Theo who continued to smile uneasily at her. Amy knew she should laugh in his face and call him crazy but she didn't, instead she bit the inside of her cheek and looked off to the side in contemplation. She continued to think of what to say and how to react and in the end she muttered "Then prove it" to Theo without looking at him. Truthfully she was scared, the nervous tension that had coiled inside her ever since that girl, _'Lila'_ she thought disdainfully, appeared and nearly gave her a heart attack, she's been waiting for the other shoe to drop. _'And maybe this is it.' _

She hesitantly turns back toward Theo who is now having a whispered argument with Lauren who looks indignant and slightly annoyed, but Amy is pretty sure that's just get default facial expression. They eventually stop taking and just stare at each other for a while. And then Lauren rolls her eyes and nods and Theo rises from the couch. He starts pushing furniture against the wall creating apparently making room for himself and Amy sits up straight watching his moves intently. After rolling up the rug and placing it against the wall he turns and looks at Amy.

"You might want to close your eyes for a little bit. I kinda have to... ya know." Amy raises an eyebrow, "Strip" he stage whispers, Amy rolled her eyes but turned her head when Theo pulled off his shirt.

"I can't believe this is happening, you're actually getting naked in my living room right now. Is today even real? Maybe I hit my head yesterday and this is all a dream."

"Don't worry Amy it was weird the first time for me too." Lauren interjects.

Amy rolls her eyes, "I feel like I should be freaking out more, but I'm not really sure how to feel. I think I'm still in denial right now." A groan interrupts her and she freezes. The sound of bones grinding against each other sends a shiver through her spine. She felt the urge to turn around but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"It's better if you don't; it's not a pretty sight." Amy fist tightens on her jeans. The low groaning continues as the sound of grounding bones intensifies. Seconds ticked by that felt like minutes, and minutes ticked by that felt like hours. She screwed her eyes shut hoping that it would block out the sounds from her ears. Eventually the groans faded away to a high pitched whined that made the hairs on the back of Amy's neck stand on end. The soft pattering of feet sounded from behind her. Something soft brushed against her arm causing her to slightly giggle. Her arm was gently being nudged so she released her tight grip on her jeans and began to reach out to the side of her keeping her eyes closed tightly. Her hand brushed against the softness and she let it roam until felt something twitch under her fingers causing her to quickly open her eyes in alarm. Jerking her head to the side she stared wide eyed at the oversized wolf that was peering up at her with striking sepia colored eyes and dark umber colored fur that faded into black as it reached its head.

Amy slowly continued to pet the wolf mouth slowly opening and closing her moth looking for words that weren't there. The wolf nuzzled into her hand and Amy had to hold in cooing noises, reminding herself that this wasn't a cute puppy but a wolf, a dangerous wolf, except…

Well he wasn't dangerous at all, at least not normally. This was Theo, Amy admitted to herself, her friend who could never hurt a fly. Her friend who played soccer, hates chemistry, and treated her sister like she was the best thing that ever happened to him. This was her friend but now he's a wolf, which sounds insane. This kind of thing isn't supposed to happen. This is the kind of things she mocked when she hate-watched twilight with Karma, but here she was living it. Her head began to spin and her vision became spotty, she hears her name being called in the distance but it's like she's underwater and can't break the surface. So she continues to drift downward until her vision goes black.

3\. Reagan

Reagan takes a left onto a dirt road that trailed through a forest. She turned on her brights and slowed her speed to 20 miles per hour.

"Just keep driving straight ahead; you should see it in about 10 minutes."

Reagan gripped the steering wheel tighter, knuckles going white from the force, her back rigid and stomach in knots from equal parts annoyance and fear. Lila's dry, almost mocking, chuckle fills the car. Reagan feels her eyebrow twitch and she bites the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything.

"You need to chill out Rea-Bear, it's only us." Lila reaches over and places her hand on Reagan thigh but she immediately shakes it off and slows the car to a stop. She pins Lila with a glare and even though the blonde tries to seem unaffected she sees the slightest shiver pass through her body. Reagan smirked. She was glad to see that her alpha influence hasn't dulled over time.

She steels her expression back into one of authority and stares right into the blonde's eye speaking with slowly with a measured amount of authority in her voice, "Do not touch me."

Lila looks like she wants to argue but Reagan puts her hand up to stop her, and she takes a breath so her anger wouldn't overtake her.

"I don't want you to touch me, you loss that right a long time ago. I don't want you making a pass at me; I don't even want to hear your apologies. I'm over you and I'm with Amy now. I just want to get through this car ride as painlessly as possible, understood? So just sit back and stay quiet."

Lila held Reagan's eye, the slight fear that was in her eyes started to fade.

"No it's not _'understood'_." Reagan could clearly hear the frustration in her voice, "I've wanted to explain since _it_ happened but you never gave me the chance. Then your parents… their attack happened and I was willing to give you space. But then you just disappeared. You left us. You left _**me**_ without any explanation. So I think I deserve a moment for you to hear me out. And for _**you**_ to explain what the hell happened to you. Why did you leave?"

"Lila…" Reagan sighs, anger slipping away from her and a sadness and pain that she thought she had buried year ago began to creep up on her. "I don't want to do this with you right now."

"Then when do you want to do this?"

Reagan didn't answer; she just looks back to the road and begins to drive again, the air thick and heavy with a flurry of emotions and words unsaid.

They pull up to and old campsite that looked like it hasn't been used in months, the only sign of life was the orange glow that was lighting up a portion of the darkened sky. Lila leads them behind the cabin where the glow was being admitted. The closer they got Reagan could feel more emotions being thrown at her. From anger to relief, suspicion, and hesitance, happiness, bitterness, she felt it all and is gave her a headache. She wasn't used to so many feelings being projected at her at once. But she held her head high, kept her shoulders back, and not walked but strided forward not wanting to appear weak or intimidated.

The sound of hushed conversation slowly dissipates the closer they get to the cabin. When they round the corner Reagan feels her stomach lurch.

There they were.

Her pack.

Their faces were cast in shadows because of the fire that continued to crackle in the background. But she doesn't need to actually see their faces because a barrage of emotions were hitting her from left and right, and yet Reagan didn't waver. She stared the group down with an air of confidence and authority surrounding her.

As she continues to walk forward her steps falter and her breath hitches when a familiar silvery voice fills the air.

"Reagan" she stands still, veins filling with ice, breath caught in her throat.

"I can't believe it… you're actually here." her eyes focus on the approaching figure with their broad shoulders and coltish figure. Her heart speeds up, pounding so hard it felt like it was slamming against her rib cage. Her bottom lip trembled and her vision got slightly misty.

"Elliot…" she breathed, they both stared at each other for a beat and then Reagan launches herself at him. Elliot easily catches her and spins her around hugging her tight. She buries her face in his chest and let's this feeling of happiness fill her.

"Welcome back baby sister."

4\. Elliot

"Welcome back baby sister." Elliot lets a smile grow on his face as he holds Reagan close. He resists the urge to squeeze her until she was just a lifeless mass in his arms. _'Patience Elliot. She's back now; you have plenty of time to get rid of her. One step at a time."_

5\. KARMA

Amy was absent today.

That much Karma was sure of.

What she didn't know was why she was absent. She didn't get a text or a phone call from her best friend telling her… well anything. She asked Shane if he had talked to her but he said he hasn't talked to her since yesterday afternoon. She tried to track down Lauren but she was M.I.A. She even tried to ask Liam but he just brushed the question off and tried to change the subject to if she was free tonight. Karma just rolled her eyes at him and walked away without looking back.

So now here she was in Chemistry looking at the empty seat next to her that was usually occupied by Amy. The teacher drones on in the front of the room about acids and bases, and something about a PH scale and colors. Karma looks out the window and plays with the ends of her red hair as she thinks about what Amy is up to. Ever since Amy started dating Reagan Karma felt like she was losing her best friend. She always seemed busy, and whenever she would ask to hang out, usually getting a "Sorry, Reagan and I already have plans" as a response.

At first she didn't notice, too caught up in her turbulent on again off again romance with Liam Booker. But now that they're officially off again the gap between her and Amy seemed to stretch a mile.

Karma glances to the front of the room finding that the teacher has begun to write on the board. Opening her notebook Karma begins to copy the notes if only so she could give them to Amy.

She pauses in her writing, mind drifting back to Amy. It wasn't unusual for Amy to be out. She was always catching something. Karma has even told her that she should just live in a bubble if her immune system was so bad. Sighing quietly to herself Karma thinks back to one of the many times she had to share her notes with Amy.

"_God how can you write so frilly, like all the time?" Amy scrunches her nose up and Karma laughs finding it cute. "I mean we've always been in the same class, when did you learn to write like this? Did I miss a penmanship lesson or something?"_

_Karma laughs again nudging Amy's shoulder with her own, "Oh please Raudenfeld, you're just mad because you write like an elementary schooler. I'm pretty sure you're not even writing words half the time."_

"_Hey leave my bad handwriting alone, it's perfectly legible. Besides not all of us can write in frilly script. Besides you still dot your i's with little hearts so who's the real elementary schooler here?"_

_Karma picks up a pillow and smacks Amy in the face, "Shut-up and copy the notes already."_

_As Amy begins to scribble down the neat and organized English notes Karma settles into the bed and watches her. She's been doing a lot of watching lately which should be weird but she just chalks it up to them being friends for so long. It's natural to want to watch them to make sure nothing was wrong. And it was totally normal to want to brush errant strands of hair behind their ear. And there was nothing wrong with occasionally thinking about kissing them. Those are just normal thoughts that go through normal friends minds._

_Amy begins to look up from the notes and Karma feels a mini-heart attack come on. She panics a little and doesn't turn away as Amy catches her eye. They both just look at each other for a moment and Karma feels her mouth dry so she darts her tongue out to at least wet her lips. Amy's pale green eyes that always reminded Karma of warm summer days that smelled like sunshine, and sounded like childish laughter, and days filled with hide and seek, flower crowns, and ended with and grass stained knees, and smiles that wouldn't stop even when they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer._

"_Karma?" The sound of Amy's voice jolts her out of her daze, "You were staring off into space, are you okay?"_

"_Hmm, oh yeah I'm fine. How about I turn on some music?"_

"_Sure, but try not to make my ears bleed. I swear if I hear that One Direction song one more time-"_

"_Aw come on __Steal My Girl__ is amazing, and you know you love it." Amy scoffs and Karma ignores whatever cynical comment she decided to make and instead unlocks her phone and walks over to the speaker that was on the dresser. After plugging it in she scrolls through her music, clicking on it when she finds the song she was looking for._

_Karma turns around as the piano begins to play a goofy smile plastered on her face. She begins to lip sync the first verse watching as Amy rolls her eyes. Bopping around the room Karma dances and spins and makes exaggerated gestures as the song continues to play. When the chorus comes around she bounces over to Amy who tried to look like she returned back to copying notes and cups her chin squeezing just enough to make her lips purse. Amy swats Karma's hand away and fails to hide the smile that was blooming on her face. Karma makes a heart shape over her chest and imitates it beating never removing her gaze from the now freely smiling Amy._

_When the next verse comes around Karma pulls Amy up off the bed despite her protests and starts to dance with her. Eventually Amy loosens up and starts to dance without any prompting. English notes now forgotten on the bed the two best friends dance the afternoon away._

Focusing back on the present Karma feels a pang of something that felt a lot like longing strike within her. She mentally shakes it off trying to focus on what the teacher was saying. After another five minutes of looking but not hearing anything Karma is just about ready to ask to use the bathroom just to escape and clear her head. Just as her hand was about to go up her phone vibrated. Peeking at the teacher and seeing that he was once again writing something on the board she pulls out her phone seeing that she got a text message from Amy.

"_Can you come over?"_

Karma's thumb hovers over the keyboard for a second trying to contain the smile that was breaking out on her face. She bites her lip and begins to tap out her reply.

"_Sure but why didn't you come today?"_

She impatiently waits for a response, bouncing her foot in anticipation. Finally her phone buzzes again in her hand and she hurriedly unlocks it eyes scanning over the words.

"_Wasn't feeling good, Lauren stayed home to take care of me, I didn't want to bother you"_

Karma rereads the text four or five times letting the letting the words sink in. After reading it a sixth time she definitely knew something was up. Amy was all whiny and clingy when she was sick; there was no way Lauren would have survived that. But if she's honest Karma still doesn't really understand Lauren and Amy's dynamic.

Before she can think of a response the bell rings and everyone begins to pack up. Karma debates between staying and skipping last period to go see Amy. She leans toward skipping and then her phone vibrates again.

"_Go to last period Karma, I can last another hour without you"_

"_What are you a psychic?"_

"_No. I just know you"_

Something warms inside Karma at the comment, and she takes that feeling and holds onto it so it could help through last period.

.

.

.

**MC:** Fun fact, I've been writing this as my novella for my English class, I really like the idea I had originally but wanted to change it around so now it has direction, a plot, and an ending. But that being said, if someone wants to beta this that'd be cool, our teacher is making us type it on google drive so that might make editing easier. Also if any of you have read the Unwind series you might have noticed that my chapter formatting is similar to that, idk if that's weird for you guys but I like it. So I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, and if you feel like it drop a comment, I love reading them, especially ones with suggestions on how to improve the story, so until next update.

MC over and out


	3. Secrets Better Left Unsaid

6\. Amy

Amy tosses her phone onto her bed and makes her way downstairs. When she makes it to the last step she stretches her arms up above her head shaking off the sluggishness in her body. She makes her way to the kitchen and is greeted by the smell of bacon, pancakes, sausage and an assortment of other breakfast items assaulted her nose. Her stomach roared to life as her feet took her toward the delicious smells.

"Ah look who finally decided to come down" A smiling Theo, who was manning the stove, said.

"About time, I was tired of talking to a door." Lauren huffed from atop the counter.

"Yeah well…" Amy shrugs and goes to lean against the counter next to Lauren. She silently leans her head on Lauren's shoulder slowly breathing in and out still feeling overwhelmed by everything that happened yesterday. Lauren rubs her shoulder making the tension in her body ease a little.

"I still don't want to believe what happened yesterday." Amy admits

"It is a lot to process" Theo agrees

"How long have you known about, you know…" Amy hesitantly asks Lauren.

"A while actually" she looks off to the left, "Actually I found out around the same time you first started hanging out with Reagan" Lauren pauses, "Actually it was because of Reagan that I found out about both of them." Amy's eyebrows turned downward.

Theo turns off the fire and turns to look at Amy "Are you sure you're ready to hear this. I don't want to throw more stuff at you when you're not ready."

"Might as well tell me now. I've fallen into this place of where I'm accepting what's happened but I still don't know how to react to it."

Theo nods and prepares the food onto plates.

7\. Theo

Theo slowly chews on a strip of bacon thinking about the story he's about to tell.

"It was a couple of days after that underground rave party you and Reagan were at." he began, "During the party I knew I felt another wolf in the area but the feeling was faint so I brushed it off. Then about a week after that Lauren and I were walking to my car after getting some smoothies. That feeling I had at the party came back except way stronger."

_The hairs on the back of Theo's neck stood on end. His inner wolf began to snarl and he was instantly on edge. He looked toward Lauren who was walking without any worries and casually sipping on her smoothie. He discretely tried to pinpoint where the threat was coming from. 'About a mile out from right in front of us, but it's not going as fast as it could be, it must not have sensed me. We have about four minutes until it gets here.'_

_Theo grabs Lauren's hand and pulls her closer. Without her noticing he starts to make them walk a little faster. When they reach the car he opens the door for her while scanning the area. The other wolf was about two minutes out now. As he made his way to the driver side of the car he was suddenly hit with the scent of blood in the air. He quickly got inside the car and started it up. As he pulled out of the parking space he buckles his seat belt and looks out the corner of his eye to make sure Lauren had hers on._

"_Theo!"_

"_Hm, what up?"_

"_I just asked what was on your mind, you're obviously distracted and I want to know by what. Answer carefully." Lauren narrows her eyes at him._

_He quickly licks his lip and shifts in his seat as the smell of blood got stronger and the other wolf grew closer._

"_I was just, uh, thinking about how nice you looked tonight"_

"_Uh-huh, nice try, you get points for the compliment but try again, and this time try to use the truth."_

_Theo rolls back the cuff of his left cuff and quickly swipes at the bottom of his nose._

"_Aww come on, why can't I be thinking about how beautiful you look tonight, and how lucky I am to have been able to take you out tonight." He quickly glances to the side seeing Lauren's cheek flush red before she looked out the window._

"_Fine, I'll let you get away with this time, but next time I won't be so forgiving." she huffed._

_Theo's victory is short lived when he senses that the other wolf has turned around and was now speeding up in their direction. Theo silently curses as they're stopped by a red light. Silently cursing Theo tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he felt the other wolf get closer closer._

_As soon as the light turned green he immediately stepped on the gas. Right as he was about to push past 50 miles per hour something jumped in front of the car. He swerved to the right and slammed the breaks. At the last second he shot his arm out across Lauren's chest to stop her from jerking forward. After quickly scanning her for any injuries and finding none he unsnapped his seatbelt and got out of the car._

_"Theo wait! You can't go out there by yourself."_

_"Just stay in the car Lauren I'll be fine, trust me." And he closed the door behind him. The blood was now thick and heavy in the air, and continued to intensify the closer he got. When he rounded the side of the car he saw it._

_It was larger than members of his own pack, a dark jet gray color, and was breathing heavily. It started to turn its head toward him, making him pause when he saw her dark eyes that reminded him of a wooded forest. They stared at each other for a moment but the wolf didn't make a move toward him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the wolfs leg quiver which makes him divert his attention from its face. Looking carefully he could see that it's leg was still shaking and that there was something on it. A pang of sympathy hits him when he realizes that it had a bear trap stuck to it, "that explains the smell of blood."_

"_Theo what's going- Oh my god!" Without removing his gaze from the still heavily panting wolf, Theo moves toward Lauren, shielding her with his body._

"_I thought I told you to stay in the car"_

"_Well I was worried about you, sue me"_

"_Thanks for the concern but you should go back in-"_

_A high pitched whine cuts off their conversation, the wolf begins to whimper and it limps half a step forward. But as soon as it's hurt leg touches the ground it collapses still crying out in obvious pain. The whimpers and crying begins to drift off into quietness as the wolf loses consciousness._

'_Oh no, it's gonna shift' Just as Theo was going to tell Lauren to get back in the car again, she pushes past him and approaches the wolf stopping about five inches away from it._

"_Theo we should call someone, it's hurt"_

_"Lauren get back in the car" he commands pulling her backwards. He sees the wolf begin to shrink back into its normal size, fur receding into its skin, ears sinking in from the top of its head and popping back out at the sides of its head. He hears Lauren inhales sharply as she takes a stumbling step back._

_"T-Theo?" Her shaky voice rang out, "What's happening?"_

_The wolfs body continued to contort in random spasms until finally it was still. No longer was a wolf in front of them but a naked person who was laying face down on the road. Taking a breath Theo walks over to them , nudging his arm free Lauren who grabbed onto his arm to stop him from moving forward._

"_What are you doing? Don't go over there, didn't you see what just happened?"_

"_It's okay, they're harmless now." He squats down in front of the body noticing that it was a girl. Pulling off his jacket he drapes it over the girls' now bare body giving her a sense of privacy. He then moves his gaze to her still trapped leg gently straightening it out. He tells Lauren to go into the trunk and pull out his first aid kit. After a brief moment of hesitation she nods her head and goes to retrieve it. Theo then starts to slowly and carefully flip the girl onto her back adjusting the jacket as he went._

_Theo could hear Lauren approaching and then stop when she was behind him. He turns to see her staring wide eyed at the girl. Before he can even ask she speaks up._

"_I know her" Theo doesn't say anything and waits for her to continue, "That's the girl Amy met at that party, Reagan I think." Nodding in understanding Theo slips the first aid kit out of Laurens hands. He pulls out the gloves and puts them on. He starts with the trap, prying it open ignoring the sticky squelching noise it made as it detaches from her skin. Tossing it to the side he then reaches into the kit and pulls out antiseptic and a wad of cotton wool. Dumping basically all of the antiseptic onto the cotton wool he begins to wash away the blood and clean the wound. Now able to clearly see the damage he could see the bone of her leg peaking out._

'_This is going to take longer to heal. I should take her home, it's gonna get infected if I just leave her out here like this.' Making up his mind he takes out the ace bandage and begins to wrap up Reagan's leg._

"_Lauren open the backseat door please." Theo notices that Lauren has become strangely calm, he would have expected her to be more freaked out than she was, but now she was just looking at him and Reagan critically, like they were a puzzle she was close to solving. "Not that it'd be hard to put the pieces together now."_

_Once the door is open Theo carefully places Reagan on the seats, he feels a wave of surprise when Lauren gets in after her place the still unconscious girls head onto her lap. Letting a smile cross his lips Theo closes the door behind them. She may act tough but Lauren really is a big softie on the inside._

_Theo gets into the driver's seat and starts up the car and begins to drive to his house. For a while it's quiet with only little whimpers from Reagan occasionally breaking up the silence. Theo kept looking into the rear view mirror checking on both of the girls. The next time he does this Lauren catches his eye and he can tell she knows what's going on._

_He sighs_

"_So do I have to say it or do you want to?"_

_Lauren continues to sit in silence and Theo brings his gaze back to the road._

_After another beat Lauren finally speaks up,_

"_Were you going to tell me?"_

_Honestly that's not what he expected to be her first question but he answers anyway._

"_Yeah actually. I mean not any time soon but eventually."_

"_And your family is like you right?"_

"_Yup"_

"_Did you know about…"_

"_Not until now. When I picked you up from that rave last week I felt someone like me was there, but I didn't know who. But this is definitely her."_

_Lauren nods and looks out of the window for a while._

"_Are you okay?" Theo asks_

"_I'm fine. This is weird, but I've been dealing with weird my whole life."_

_Theo just nods and they continue their ride in silence_

Theo crosses his arms behind his head watching as understanding starts to fill Amy's eyes.

"So that's how she hurt her leg, she told me she fell while carrying her DJ equipment." Amy looks at Theo curiosity brimming within her. "So what happened after you got to your house?"

"Well my mom said cleaned and dressed her wound better and told us she'd be fine and about two days. Then I introduced Lauren to my parents and then took her home. Reagan didn't wake up until the next day, and when she did she freaked out a bit but after telling her who I was and what happened she calmed down. But does she normally make such bad jokes?"

"Only when she's nervous."

"Oh, well after those terrible jokes I convinced her to stay put until she was done healing. And that's about it."

Amy nods and looks at Lauren, "You sound like you handled it pretty well."

"Well I didn't have someone break into my house and whisk away my girlfriend so…"

"Thanks Lauren" Theo watched as the gears in Amy's head began to spin again and he patiently waited for her next question. "So do you know who Lila is?"

Theo bites the inside of his cheek contemplating whether or not to tell Amy the whole truth or only part of it.

"She's a member of Reagan's old pack as you probably guessed."

"Yeah and…"

"And she's Reagan's ex"

Amy bites her lip, and Theo thinks that she already knew that.

"Do you guys know anything else, she's never been really open about her past."

"You mean why she left where she used to live right?" Lauren chimed in, "We do, well sort of. She only said that she did something that made her not fit to be alpha so she left. We don't know the details."

Amy starts to ask another question but the sound of the door opening cuts her off. They all look to the hall and watch as Karma walks into the kitchen, happy smile turning into a confused frown.

"Oh Theo, I didn't know you'd be here."

"Uh yeah, I just wanted to check up on Amy see how she was doing."

"Ugh, who invited her?" Theo hears Lauren whisper

"I did, so try to be civil" Amy replies in a hushed voice, she then goes to Karma wrapping her in a hug.

"You look better" Karma notes, giving Amy a once-over

"Yeah, well Lauren is a surprisingly good nurse." Amy shrugs

"But don't get used to it Raudenfeld" Lauren quips

Amy rolls her eyes and Theo watches as she grabs Karma's hand and starts to drag her to the stairs.

"Wait what about your food?"

Amy immediately stops causing to Karma to bump into her and reroutes herself back to the kitchen, "Oh yeah" she exclaims as she piles a bunch of food onto a plate. She nods toward Karma silently asking if she wants something, Karma shakes her head no and Amy goes back to loading her plate up. Once satisfied with the amount she has she puts it in the microwave.

As the food heats Amy looks at Theo eyes serious, "Have you talked to her today? I've tried calling and texting but she hasn't responded."

Theo nods, "She texted me this morning, told me that she'd be back tonight but it'd be late so she doesn't know if she's gonna stop by yet."

"Are you going to…"

"Yeah, just in case"

Just then the microwave beeps and Amy's attention is once again diverted to the food. Plate in one hand, Karma in the other, the two girls disappear upstairs.

"Is that really all she said?" Lauren asks walking up behind Theo

"No. She actually asked me to stay longer, says thing are tense and there are a lot of hostile feelings. And they asked her to come back with them, and she's trying to figure out what to do."

Lauren looks up at the stairs and sighs, "I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"I feel it too"

"This won't be easy will it?"

"Unfortunately, no"

Lauren snuggles into Theo's side and he wraps an arm around her. The silence is broken by the sound of Theo's stomach.

"I don't know about you but I'm starved" he says with a crooked grin. Lauren just scoffs but goes to start making a plate anyway.

8\. Reagan

Reagan stretches her arms above her head sighing in content at the popping noises her bones made. She brushes her hand over the dew stained grass feeling goosebumps rise on her body from the brisk morning air. She figures she should get up and gather her clothes from her hiding spot but right now she's just so relaxed and didn't care if someone came this way. Living with a pack makes you pretty confident in your body and it wasn't an uncommon occurrence to see someone wondering in without any clothes on. But still the sun had peaked in the sky and would start to go down soon.

It was almost time to pack up and head back home.

Back to Amy and the mess she left behind.

Sitting up Reagan stretches once more before rocking forward giving her the momentum to get up.

As she wanders off to get her clothes she thinks about last night. She thinks about how good it felt to see her brother how happy she was. She thinks about the feast they had in honor of her 'return'. She thinks about that feeling of longing that she often felt disappear and be replaced by a sense of belonging and wholeness. She thinks about being woken up at 5:30 in the morning by a smiling Elliott and being dragged out of bed for a run. She thinks about the shot of adrenalin that pulsed through her as she shifted and lead the pack through the barley lit and twisty dirt path of the forest. She thinks about how 5:30 suddenly turned into 8 and how everyone else went back but she decided to keep going on her own for a little while.

A smile lights up her face as she quickens her pace heading to the shrub she left her clothes in. As she rounds a tree the familiar honey wood scent hits her and she can't help but sigh in equal parts annoyance and tiredness. When she makes it to the shrub and sees Lila standing there, clothes in hand, neither of them look surprised.

Lila's eyes roam over Reagan's body before locking eyes with her, appreciative smirk on her lips.

"What do you want Lila?"

Lila just shrugs her shoulders and takes a step closer, "Who says I want anything, maybe I just wanted to check you out, ya know, for old times' sake." Reagan doesn't move as Lila takes another step in her direction. "You look good, really good. Have you been working out, because it shows."

"Cut it out Lila" Reagan bites

"What? I'm just appreciating the view" Lila responds nonchalantly

"I know you, you came here for something else."

Something changed in the shorter girl. Her eyebrows turned downward, her whole body tensed, and usually electric blue eyes turned into a stormy ocean.

"You don't **know** me Reagan, not anymore, not since you left. Two years is a long time, people change." Lila took another step forward and poked Reagan, who kept her face passive, in the shoulder, "You have no idea what it's been like since you abandoned us, so don't think you know anything. But you're right I didn't come here to check you out." Lila chucks Reagan's clothes in her face, "Come on, we're going to talk now, there's nowhere you have to be right? Right, so let's go."

Reagan doesn't argue, she knew Lila only got like this when she was really hurt. Even if she said otherwise, Reagan still knew her, could still read her. So she got dressed and followed Lila's lead not really ready for this conversation, but knowing she couldn't avoid it any longer.

So they walked to a clearing, Lila sat on a giant rock and Reagan went to lean against a tree next to her.

"I'm not going to bite, you can sit next to me." Lila says sounding exasperated. Reagan thinks for a moment and slowly walks to the rock taking a seat. They both move around until they are sitting cross-legged in front of each other.

"I'm sorry. I know you said you didn't want to hear my apologies but I am sorry. Back then… what I said was stupid. I was hurting so I wanted to hurt you, it's not an excuse, but I didn't mean it."

Reagan looks off to the side so Lila couldn't see the hurt in her eyes, "You called me a phase, broke up with me-"

"I'm sor-"

"**Then** I saw you kiss that asshole Rudy Fabello, and you know what, it hurt, it fucking hurt, and you broke my heart, actually you trampled all over it. So do I accept your apology? No I don't."

"I didn't know you saw that… I didn't want to kiss him, but I didn't stop him when he leaned in. It was stupid. **I** was stupid. I shouldn't have said what I said, I shouldn't have kissed Rudy, I shouldn't have given you an ultimatum when I knew you weren't ready to come out to the school yet."

They sit in silence for a while letting that sink in.

"I may not forgive you right now but maybe we could start over. You were my best friend, and I miss that.

"Really?" Lila looked surprised. Regan just gave her a sheepish smile and nodded

"Why did you leave Reagan? What happened?" Lila stared into Reagan's eyes daring her to turn away, but she didn't, she stared right back at Lila.

"I had to leave. I couldn't take… everything. It was all too much. I had to watch as my parents suffered, I had to hear their pleas of mercy. I had to watch as a monster continued to hurt them with no second thought." Reagan felt sick, a lump formed in her throat and she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She felt dirty for saying these thing, for the sympathetic look Lila was giving her, for even have the audacity to feel bad for herself when she knew she was the monster that did those things.

Lila reached out for her hand gently holding it and caressing the back of it with her thumb.

"You didn't have to go through that alone, you had the pack, and you had me. Even if we might have been angry at each other I was still your friend. And Elliot, oh man you should have seen him after what happened, he was like a different person for a long time. He was so angry all the time. He would go off for days at a time looking for you on his own. And he had this, this empty look in his eyes. It was scary. He didn't start acting like his old self until about 6 months ago."

The lump grew to the point where it became hard to swallow and the guilt gnawing at the back of her mind was taunting her, mocking her, making her feel lower than dirt. Her mind wanders to a just as broken Elliot with the same feeling of anger, loneliness residing within him that she had when she left. His usually bright and smiling face broken and covered by a shadow of hurt and a frown on his face.

She always stopped herself from thinking about her pack while she was traveling, knowing that just imagining their grieving and confused faces would make her break and turn around, make her give herself in. But she was a coward. She couldn't own up to her crimes. She continued to selfishly live on, to have the nerve to even find happiness when she should be locked away somewhere.

But as she always did she swallowed all those feelings down, no matter how hard it was, and plastered on a smile.

"Well I guess it's a good thing that you found me, right?"

Lila smiled

"Yeah, it is" Regan replied, but her mind was somewhere far away.

**9\. AMY**

Amy could feel Karma's eyes burning a hole in the side of her head. She tried to ignore it as she continued to eat her food which was actually surprisingly good (she makes a mental note to get Theo to cook for her as often as possible). But Amy knows Karma, and Karma will continue to sit and stare at her until Amy says something. And despite the fact that most of the time Amy just wants to avoid the conversations that Karma tries to (not so subtly) instigate are always caves. So just like she always does she sighs and turns to look at Karma who was sitting on the bed arms crossed and face angled in a way that's supposed to seem as if she wasn't just intently focused on Amy, but Amy knew better. She thinks about not saying anything and going back to eating, but when she sees Karma's eyes flicker in her direction she decided to suck it up and begins to speak.

"If you wanna ask then-"

"Why were you really absent today?"

"I wasn't feeling well" Karma gives her a scrutinizing look searching her eyes for a hint of a lie.

Without changing her expression she moves on to her next question, "Why didn't you call or text then?" Amy opens her mouth to offer her the same explanation she gave in her text but Karma stops her before she even starts, "And don't tell me you 'didn't want to bother me' crap Amy. I know you better than that."

Amy bites the tip of her tongue and thinks about her next words carefully, knowing that Karma would be able to see through her lies.

"I didn't get the chance to, last night was kind of hectic, and I slept in this morning,"

"But you're okay right?"

"Yeah Karma, I'm fine now don't worry."

Karma gets up for off the bed staring intently at Amy as she approaches. Once she's close enough she brushes a thumb against the swell of Amy's cheek eyes melting into a soft green color.

"Silly, I'm always worrying about you."

They fall into a silence warm but heavy, and Karma's hand is still gently rubbing her cheek, cool and feather light, and she is looking at her the way Amy used to dream about, the way that used to make her stomach flip and cheeks burn. Her stomach still begins to flutter slightly as a smile cracks her lips and she laughs breathlessly.

"Your sappiness never ceases to amaze me Ashcroft."

"Yeah but you love it Raudenfeld"

They dissolve into giggles and the previous tension in the air dissipates.

Amy and Karma spent the rest of the afternoon watching Netflix, convincing Theo and Lauren (well mostly Lauren) to come with them to go to the mall with them, which was really Karma's idea but Amy was thankful for the distraction even if she and Theo ended up standing by as Karma and Lauren buzzed around going from store to store. It was normal and Amy craved that. And yet her mind still drifted to Reagan wondering if she was OK and when she was coming back. As the warm afternoon light shifted to the cool darkness of night the group found themselves on the couch in Amy's living room eyes glued to the screen as they watched some random show that Karma had suggested, honestly Amy had tuned out as soon as she sat on the couch, her mind far away. But every now and then she tuned in to listen to Lauren and Karma bicker about something that was happening on screen.

Rolling her eyes Amy silently removes herself from the conversion slipping upstairs to her room so she could take a breather. Glancing at the clock she wonders where the time has gone as 11:26 shines from her cable box. Taking her cellphone or of her pocket she's greeted by a picture of her and Reagan smiling brightly. Her face crumbles slightly seeing that she still hasn't gotten a response from her MIA girlfriend so she flops onto her bed pulling a pillow over her face and lets out a groan.

"Why can't you just come back already!" She whines to no one as she rolls into her side shuffling the pillow so she was now holding it against her chest.

It's quiet for a while until the faint sound of tapping fills the air. Amy doesn't move thinking that she was just hearing things until she hears it again louder and more defined. She turns toward her window breath escaping her as she stared wide eyed at her disheveled girlfriend who was outside her window.

"Reagan" Amy exclaims rolling off her bed and quickly throwing the window open raiding the urge to pull get inside faster. As soon as Reagan's feet were firmly planted on the bedroom floor Amy pulled her into a tight hug

"Well hello to you too Shrimps" Reagan laughs with rosy checks and bright eyes. Instead of responding Amy pulls back from the hug and reaches a hand up to cradle Reagan's jaw drawing her in for a kiss. She feels the fear and anxiety that had built up within her all day, slowly wash away at the feel of Reagan's lips brushing against hers.

Pulling back once more Amy takes in a deep breath centering herself and reining in her wild emotions. Reagan was only gone a day, but that day felt like a lifetime, but Reagan was here now, and she was safe so she let's herself relax.

"Where were you? Why didn't you answer any of my texts or calls? Did something happen?" Amy fires off rapidly not giving Reagan the chance to answer.

Reagan grabs Amy's hand and leads her to the bed gesturing for her to sit. Reagan continues to hold on to the younger girls hand as they sit in silence for a moment.

"How are you holding up, I know Theo told you about… well you know, and I know it's a lot to take in, so how are you?" Reagan asks.

Amy takes a breath, "It was- **is**, weird" she admits, "When he told me at first I didn't believe him obviously. So I asked him to prove it, and then he, well he turned. I didn't actually see the transformation but I could _hear it_. And I was scared, it sounded painful, but having Lauren there helped a little. When he finished, I felt something nudge my hand and it was this giant wolf, and I was in shock I didn't know what t say so I kind of just stared at it, at him, and then I started petting him. That's kinda when it sunk it that it was Theo and he wasn't making things up, and after that, I kinda blacked out. Too much to take at once I guess." Amy finishes with a shrug.

Reagan squeezes her hand looking worried and concerned, "And now?"

"Now, like I said it's still weird, but all day today I kept watching him and every move he made looking for, I don't know something that would seem weird or not normal. But he was just Theo, the same guy who I bumped into and spilled my smoothie on his shirt and then apologized to _me_ and bought me a new one." Amy pauses to make sure Reagan is looking at her as she begins to speak again, "And you're still you, you're still the same Reagan that brings me lunch at school every day and eats with me in her pick-up, the one who loves skeeball and acts like a 10 year old more times than not, the one who makes so mad sometimes, but makes me feel like I'm the only girl in the world the rest of the time. So while it might be weird now, I'll get used to it eventually because it's just another part of you and I lo- like you just the way you are." Amy's cheeks burn at her almost confession hoping Reagan didn't catch her slip up.

She watches as Regan gets up of the bed and starts pacing back and forth with a pained expression on her face. Amy feels her heart freeze in fear wondering if Reagan did hear her and was freaked out.

"Rea…"

"I saw my brother today," Reagan cuts Amy off as she continues to pace and wring her hands in nervousness. "I never told you I had a brother did I? Of course not because all I do is keep secrets. But anyway, I have a brother, an older brother by two years, his name is Elliot. And when I saw him today I was just so happy ya know. I haven't seen him in two years, can you believe it two whole years, and he just looked so happy to see me. And it wasn't just him, it was everyone from my old pack, and so many of them told me how happy they were, and how glad they were that I was safe and not hurt. And at first I was just so overwhelmed by happiness that I let myself forget why I left in the first place. And everything was going so well, and it was like I had never left, like that part of me that felt like it was missing was finally filled. But then…" Reagan stops pacing and turns to look at Amy who was worried about her girlfriend, Reagan looked so distressed, like what she was saying was physically paining her, but when Amy reached out to try and touch her Reagan just backed away and shook her head.

Amy gets up intending to hug Reagan but Reagan just backs away again crossing her arms over her chest. Amy ignores the pang of hurt she feels and tries to figure what Reagan was getting at.

"I don't understand, what's wrong?" Amy asks confusion lacing her voice. Reagan squeezes her eyes shut and turns her head to the side.

"I ran away because my parents by murdered. It happened right in front of me and I couldn't handle it so I ran. But then Lila cornered me and she started telling me about how Elliot changed after I left how he became so angry and distant he was. And my brother is a real happy go lucky type of guy, and to know that I, that I basically broke him killed me inside, and all that guilt I had buried within me just came to the surface again and I started to drown in it. She told me about how our pack almost destroyed itself after I left. But then she tried to comfort me because I had to suffer on my own and I felt sick. I didn't deserve her sympathy."

Amy takes a step toward her now crying girlfriend, relieved that she didn't move away this time and brought her into a hug letting her cry on her shoulder, heart breaking at the chocked sobs Reagan was trying to suppress. She feels Regan grip the front of her shirt and Amy brings a hand up to rub her back trying to console her. She feels Reagan take in a deep breath as she lifts her head from Amy's shoulder. Amy watches as Reagan wipes away tears from her face only for them to be replaced by fresh ones still falling from her eyes.

"When I was on the way over I was…" Reagan pauses detaching herself from Amy and putting some space between them, "I was planning on breaking up with you."

Amy feels her breath catch and her heart begin to pound. Her eyes get misty but she bites the inside of her cheek unwilling to let the tears fall. She waits for Reagan to continue, waits for the other shoe to drop, she waits, and she waits.

"Amy I'm not a good person, I've lied and hurt the people closest to me, and run away from them because I'm a coward who can't face herself. I know I act all cool and collected but I'm a mess."

Amy waits.

"I…" Reagan swallows hard and Amy continues to wait.

"It was me, I did it" Reagan basically whispers, "I lost control and went berserk and I… I killed them Amy. I killed my parents."

Silence.

Only the sound of the TV still playing from downstairs filled the still air.

Amy continued to stare into Reagan's anguished dark eyes as she kept her face stoic and unreadable. Honestly she didn't know how to react, on one hand she felt like yelling, crying, and telling Reagan to get out, but another part of her didn't believe what Reagan had just said. She knows Reagan, or at least she thought she did, there's no way she would do something like this.

But how would she know, apparently Reagan is full of secrets.

Her thoughts were too jumbled to sort through right now, and having Reagan her in front of her, eyes pleading for her to understand wasn't helping.

"You should go" Amy says in a controlled voice. Reagan looked like she was ready to argue with her so she puts a little more foe into her voice and says, "Now Reagan. Just go I can't look at you right now, so just go, please." Her voice began to crack at the end of her sentence but she was determined to not cry.

Regan nodded her head and gave Amy one last longing look before she slipped out the window she had entered through.

Amy stood in the middle of her room for a moment staring out the dark window. She kept staring until her eyes welled with tears and the room began to feel too small as if it was suffocating her. So she squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears at bay and turned to run out of the room. As soon as she stepped out of the room she collided into something, or rather someone judging from the 'oof' she heard upon impact. Stumbling back Amy caught her balance and looked up to see Karma standing there staring at her wide eyed.

"Amy I-"

She doesn't a chance to finish her sentence as Amy flings herself at Karma hugging her tight and letting her warmth ground her. Amy felt so cold and drained and lost and Karma was like an anchor holding her down and keeping her from floating away.

10\. Karma

Karma wraps her arms around Amy's waist carefully, like she was afraid Amy might break. She briefly considers leading Amy back into her room but decides against it knowing that neither are in a good state of mind. So she gently takes Amy's hand and leads her downstairs where Theo and Lauren are waiting on the couch for them.

"What did you do to her?" Lauren accuses narrowing her eyes at Karma who bristles slightly taking the bait.

"I didn't do anything, and I don't appreciate your accusation"

Lauren scoffs and looks like she has a sarcastic retort on the tip of her tongue, but before she lets it slip out Theo places a hand on her knee that makes her stop and look at him. Karma hears Lauren huff before she turns back around. Lauren just rolls her eyes and looks at the TV and Karma resists the urge to stick her tongue out at the mini blonde devil. She feels a tug on her hand and turns to look at Amy whose face is scrunched up in that way that means she has too much on her mind and was trying to process it all.

Karma sits them both down and she pretends to look at the TV when in reality she was sneaking glances at Amy. Karma knew she should have said something when they were upstairs. Amy is the type of person who over thinks things, and keeps it bottled up until she explodes, which isn't a pretty sight. Karma knows this but still she said nothing. So she sits and watches Amy's far away expression promising herself that she'll talk to Amy tomorrow. For now Karma thinks about what she heard upstairs and tries not to freak out because honestly there's no way she misheard that and there was no other explanation she could think up to try and change what it meant.

_"It was me, I did it, I lost control and went berserk and I… I killed them Amy. I killed my parents."_

_Karma felt her heart pound in her ears as a rush of fear and confusion rushed through her. What the hell Reagan was saying, she couldn't really mean…_

_But why else would she say it?_

_The need to get Amy out of there and fast hits Karma like a ton of bricks but before she pry herself away from the wall she hears Amy's voice._

"_You should go"_

_And once again confusion fills Karma as she wonders why Amy is so calm as she says this. Her mind continues to race her thoughts jumbled and all over, but before she begin to catch up to her thoughts the wind was being knocked out of her by her best friend._

Karma doesn't know what Amy has gotten herself into but she vows to keep her safe from anyone that tried to harm, especially if it was Reagan. Even if Reagan might be a crazy psychopath killer. Karma discretely shakes her head trying to get rid of those thoughts even if they did seem to make a lot of sense. But for once she'll try to not be her and jump the gun and talk to Amy, maybe she really was wrong.

At least she hoped so.

.

.

.

**MC:** And the plot continues to thicken. What will happen next? No one can be sure, not even me, so stick around and find out. Also I need help thinking up what I want my cover to be if you guys have suggestions let me know


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